Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-07
BY POISON,
So it is Said, Died Two Color
ed Boys Sunday
Afternoon.
The Suspicious Circumstances Sur
rounding the Death Of Frank
fuckers Two Children.

No. GIG North Wichita is small oouse
sitting back in the yard from the railroad
track. Close up to it is another house OF
similar size and appearance. In the latter
reside Dick Tennell and his family. In the
former Frank Tucker, colored day laborer,
with his family, consisting of his wife and
until Sunday of four children.
On that day in the afternoon there died al
most simultaneously two Of his children
boys four and five years of age. The older
had been sick since Thursday, but the
younger had been ill not over
an hour, Both ha suffered in
tensely, but that of the latter was
terrible. The l:the fellow had come into
the house from the one adjoining and was
almost Immediately seized with pain in the
region of the stomach and grew rapidly
worse. The eyes bulged out from their
sockets, the lips were swollen to twice their
size. and the tongue swollen and purple
hung from his mouth: within an hour the
child was dead.
This sudden death of the two children
the friends of the Tucker family. Runors
were rife and soon there was whispered
that,the children died from poison. An in
vestigation seemed to strengthen this be-
lief: and so the coroner was sent for, the
stomach of the younger removed and Will oe
given a thorough and complete analysis to
see if traces of poison can be found.
Last evening side by side upon chairs lay
the two little coffins in the rude, plain room
where the two within had died. The rod
and front of the house was crowded with
colored people endeavoriug to console the
father and mother.
The mother is not much over % years OF
age and scarcely recovered from an lines;
She was very weak and gave the following
statement:
"You see, we and the Tennells next
door have not lived very harmoni
ously toget her. Mrs. Tennell, whose name
| is Laura, often abused me and my children
and called us "niggers' One day l made
the remark that her husband was not g
white man himself, but a "nigger." This
| Infatuated her and she told me if did mo-
keep my young'ns at home or off her lot sht
would fix them SO that they could not bother
her. Several times either she or bel
| children ran my children home and almos
frightened them to death. The. day upor
| which they first took sick the two boys were
over to her house, to one she gave banana
| to the other piece of pie
| James Arthur came home an(
| soon afterwards took sick. Sunday about
o'clock the younger, Albert, was with hi
sister in Mrs. Tennell's kitchen; she CAV
him piece of bread upon which, in the pres
ence of the little girl, she spread something
The child came home; in twenty minutes wa
taken sick. Oh, how he suffered; was no
well myself, and could not do much. Tn
poor little fellow lay suffering upon the bed
l took him into my arms, and upo
looking in his face knew b
was dying. The doctor came, but b
could do nothing to save his life. He die
almost at the same time that his brother did
1 would not like to say that Laura poisone
my boy, but she is a bad woman and l fee
she did,
| The interest that the matter has create
gives an assurance that it will be thorough
investigated. The examination OF tn
contents of the stomach will be resume
this morning, and by this means verdict c
the coroner's jury will be reached perhaE
TODAY